Eating Out in Chester: Village Pizza

Do you like pizza? Well, yeah, of course you do.

Aside from hamburgers and apple pie, pizza is probably the food that best typifies "America." And if you live in Mendham and you want a nice, triangular slice, you have many places to choose from. But did you know two of them are owned by the same family?

"They have a slightly different recipe than us," says Guy Poggi, owner of Village Pizza in the King's Shopping Center. He's talking about Sorrento's, which is owned by his brother, Jarrod. "They have the original recipe my father started, and then, when I took over Village Pizza, I slightly tweaked it, but it comes from the same recipe."

That same recipe was the brainchild of Robert Poggi, Guy and Jarrod's father.

"Before Village Pizza was here, my pop started Sorrento's," Guy says.

You might think two brothers owning different pizza shops might spur sibling rivalry, but it doesn't — for the most part.

"I'd like to think of it as friendly competition, you know?" Guy says. "We help each other out all the time. If I run out of a certain supply, I can go up there and get it, and if he runs out of a certain supply, he can come down and get it. Sometimes, we'll do deliveries for them, and vice versa. We always help each other out. If I'm running a special on a pizza, then he's running a special on a pizza. We don't outsell one another. We work together."

But pizza is an interesting beast. While both shops may use essentially the same recipe, one slightly modified, both places have their separate fan bases, with people usually choosing one over the other more frequently.

"Absolutely," Guy says in reference to people having a favorite. "You have people who love Sorrento's and have been going to it for years and years and years. They were the original.

"And then you have the new business," Guy continues. "People would shop at King's and then they come into Village, so we get the best of both worlds. We get a little bit of everybody."

And while they may not have an online menu, they have everything you'd expect a pizza parlor to have, with many of the items favored by the public.

"Barbecue chicken pizza is very popular," Guy says. "What we call Bianca is also very popular. It's a white pizza. We have Rustica, which is like roasted peppers and sausage. And our Sicilian. Everybody loves our Sicilian pie."

VILLAGE PIZZA
WHERE: Route 24 North, Mendham
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 973-543-5411
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week
CUISINE: Pizza, Italian
LIQUOR: BYOB
PAYMENT: Cash
RESERVATIONS: No
DRESS: Casual
ATMOSPHERE: Traditional strip mall pizzeria with counter service and booths in back. The warm yellow and red decor and Italian signs and scenes on the walls make it a cheerful place to stay for lunch or dinner
VIBE: Guy and his staff are as nice as can be. Stop by and get a slice if you're in the King's Shopping Center
DELIVERY: Yes
CATERING: Yes
TAKEOUT: Yes
PARKING: In the shopping center lot
OWNERS: Guy Poggi

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